Virgil van Dijk
Virgil van Dijk (born 8 July 1991) is a Dutch international footballer who plays as a defender for Liverpool. He is currently the club’s record signing, having arrived from Southampton for a total reported fee of around £75,000,000. Liverpool career After another relatively poor defensive season in 2016-17, Jurgen Klopp decided his centre-back pairing was in need of reinforcement. Very early in the summer reports linking Liverpool with the Southampton captain, which would make him the sixth player to sign from the Saints since 2014. Around the same time reports began to come through that Southampton were unhappy with Liverpool’s “illegal” approaches to van Dijk without any Saints approval. On 7 June 2017, Liverpool released an official statement apologising for media reports considering the club’s apparent tapping up of the Dutchman, stating that they had ended any interest in van Dijk. Despite this reports continued linking the player with signing throughout the summer, even ahead of deadline day club affiliated journalists maintained that the club were still set on signing the Dutchman, but a deal wasn’t agreed. After a day of build-up, it was officially announced that Liverpool had agreed a deal to sign van Dijk in the January window, with a world record fee for a defender of £75,000,000, which made him the club’s record transfer. Van Dijk officially signed on 1 January 2018, and was set to wear the no. 4 shirt at the club. Despite only having appeared in a few training sessions, van Dijk started in his first game against Everton in the FA Cup on 5 January. With the scores level, the Dutchman jumped high to head in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s corner, scoring the winning goal in the 84th minute of the Merseyside Derby, sending Liverpool into the next round of the FA Cup. Van Dijk quickly became a key part of Liverpool's starting XI, and was vital in the Reds' run to the Champions League final, where he played all 90 minutes in a 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid. The 2018-19 season began with van Dijk as the club's first-choice centre-back, starting alongside Joe Gomez. The two formed a formidable partnership in the opening months of the season, conceding just five goals in the first fourteen League games of the season. The pair were helped either side by Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, as well as the signing of Alisson in goal. Van Dijk was also named the club’s third-captain, behind Henderson and Milner. He started as captain for the first time on 24 October 2018, in a 4-0 win over Red Star Belgrade. On 21 December 2018, van Dijk scored his first goal of the season, volleying Liverpool's second in an impressive 2-0 win away to Wolves. His offensive form began to pick up after this, with the Dutchman going in to grab a brace of headers in a 5-0 victory over Watford at Anfield. On 13 March 2019, van Dijk started in a crucial Champions League tie away to Bayern Munich. Early in the game, he fired a superb long ball forward to Sadio Mane, who took it down perfectly before rounding the goalkeeper and putting Liverpool a goal up. Later on with the scores level, the defender rose high to head home a James Milner corner to give the Reds a 2-1 lead, and effectively sending them into the quarter-finals. Van Dijk went on to feature in all 38 Premier League games, and was a massive part of Liverpool's record breaking push for the title, unfortunately only reaching 2nd place despite a 97 point haul. On 28 April 2019, he was named the PFA Player of Year for his amazing defensive efforts throughout the campaign, as Liverpool went on to concede the least goals and keep the most clean sheets. On 1 June 2019, van Dijk started in a second consecutive Champions League final. This time round, Liverpool were able to prevail, beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in Madrid, with the Dutchman being named man-of-the-match. Van Dijk started in the opening game of the new Premier League season, a 4-1 win over Norwich, and headed in the Reds’ third of the game from a Mohamed Salah corner. On 30 November, the Dutchman scored both of Liverpool's goals in a 2-1 victory over Brighton, with two great headers from Trent Alexander-Arnold deliveries. On 29 December 2019, van Dijk made his 100th appearance for the club, in a 1-0 win over Wolves. Three weeks later, he headed in the opening goal in a vital 2-0 win over Manchester United. Honours Liverpool *UEFA Champions League: 1 (2019) *FIFA Club World Cup: 1 (2019) *UEFA Super Cup: 1 (2019) Individual *UEFA Player of the Year: 1 (2018-19) *UEFA Defender of the Year: 1 (2018-19) *UEFA Team of the Year: 1 (2018) *FIFA FIFPro XI: 1 (2019) *PFA Player of the Year: 1 (2018-19) *PFA Team of the Year: 1 (2018-19) *UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2 (2017-18, 2018-19) *UEFA Champions League Final Man of the Match: 1 (2019) *PFA Player of the Month: 1 (November 2018) *Premier League Player of the Season: 1 (2018-19) *Premier League Player of the Month: 1 (December 2018) *Standard Chartered Players’ Player of the Season: 1 (2018-19) *Standard Chartered Fans’ Player of the Season: 1 (2018-19) *Standard Chartered Player of the Month: 2 (August 2018, February 2019) Stats External links * Category:Current Players Category:Defenders